Tube in a bottle

ABSTRACT

A special tube with a retainer, said tube accommodated inside a special container and designed as a device for extracting liquid from the container wherein it is accommodated. Said retainer, said tube and a cap are designed in such a way that said container wherein the tube is located can be closed and opened, so that the tube will contract or release. The cap is specially adapted for the bottle with the tube, said cap having a free cavity in the upper portion thereof for accommodating the upper end of the tube when the bottle with the tube is closed, said cap also having a inner protrusion for leakproof closing of the bottle.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a straw and retainer assembly and a container assembly containing the same, suitable for use in the food industry, particularly, as a device for extracting liquid from a container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Similar inventions consist in that a tube for extracting liquid is located outside a container, as a rule, being fixed to the container from the outer side thereof so that a user has first to detach the tube from the container and then to insert it into the container for further extracting said liquid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a retainer with a tube, said retainer and said tube accommodated inside a specially adapted bottle, and a cap of special shape for closing said bottle. The tube is characterized in that it has a cut, an elastic corrugation facilitating said tube to extend lengthwise, said corrugation characterized in that it has creases of different sizes, of one size on one side, and the same creases on the opposite side having a little larger length, thereby ensuring the bias of the extended tube. The corrugation is further characterized in that the elongated creases thereof are provided only on the upper portion of the corrugation, thereby ensuring a bias of the upper portion of said tube rather than the whole tube.

The retainer is characterized in that it is made flexible and elastic, said feature enabling: 1) the passage of said retainer through the bottle neck; 2) when released said retainer abuts with its stems against a protrusion located inside the bottle. Said retainer is further characterized in that it has stems, a cylindrical round bushing, said bushing facilitating a better fixing of said retainer on the tube.

The bottle is characterized in that it has a protrusion for holding the retainer and a funnel for holding the tube and the intake of the liquid into the tube.

The cap is characterized in that it has a free cavity in the upper portion thereof and a protrusion for leakproof closing of the bottle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional side view of the tube inside the bottle with the closed cap;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of the opened bottle with the extended tube;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional side view of the bottle with the closed cap and the extended tube inside the bottle;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show respectively a top view and a side view of the retainer;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the tube;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional side view of the cap;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional side view of the bottle; and

FIG. 8 shows a side view of the tube with retainer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As seen best in FIG. 1, the tube or straw 10 according to the invention is located inside a closed plastic bottle 20 suitable for carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. As seen in FIG. 2, after the cap 30 is removed, the upper end 12 of the tube 10 is seen protruding from the bottle, then the user pulls the tube by the free end 14 thereof, thereby, causing the tube 10 to extend so that a considerable portion of the tube 10 comes out. The tube has a bias due to a specially adapted corrugation as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thereby providing a more comfortable use of said device and giving it an aesthetic look due to a smooth bias of the tube 10. Then, the bottle 20 can be closed again so that the tube 10 will fold in half at the point where it has extended, remaining inside the bottle 20 as shown in FIG. 3. The bottle 20 can be repeatedly closed and opened and the tube 10 will always fold when the bottle 20 is closed and will extend after the bottle 20 is opened.

The tube 10 is held inside the bottle 20 by the retainer 40 shown best in FIG. 4. The retainer 40 should be made flexible and elastic, for example, of recyclable thermoplastic material such as, for example, polypropylene, said feature is required to ensure that the retainer 40 and the tube 10 pass through the bottle neck 22 as the tube and the retainer are placed inside the bottle. The retainer 40 should first contract as it passes through the bottle neck 22, and then release and abut against a special protrusion 24 in the upper portion of the bottle 20 so that the lower end 16 of the straw 10 will at the same time fit into the funnel 26 as shown in FIG. 7. As a result, the tube 10 becomes fixedly retained inside the bottle 20. As shown in FIG. 8, the tube 10 is provided with elastic protrusions 13 for latching and holding the retainer 40. The tube has an elastic corrugation 15 which extends and becomes 2-2.5 times longer when stretched, as shown in FIG. 2. The lower portion of the tube is provided with a cut or bevel 17 shown in FIG. 5, so that the liquid can freely pass through said cut 17 inside the tube 10; the cut 17 can be arranged, for example, as a lateral hole in the lower end of the tube, the most important is that the liquid should freely enter the tube 10. The bottle 10 shown in FIG. 7 has a funnel 26 provided at the bottom thereof, said funnel serves the following functions: 1) It retains the tube 10 centrally at the bottom 29 of the bottle 20; and 2) It accumulates the remaining liquid in the bottle 20 which then enters the tube 10.

Furthermore, the upper portion 23 of the bottle 20 is provided with a protrusion 24 serving as a stop member for the retainer 40. The cap 30 shown in FIG. 6 has a free cavity 32 in its upper portion, wherein the upper end 12 of the tube 10 is accommodated as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Due to the internal cavity 32, the cap 30 has an elongated form, with its height considerably exceeding that of the caps used to close ordinary bottles for carbonated and non-carbonated drinks and not provided with a tube inside. This feature affords two advantages:

1) It permits the grasping of the cap 30 with the whole palm of one hand, thereby making an easy unscrewing thereof possible. This is particularly important when the cap is to be opened for the first time as it is strongly tightened during its manufacture to ensure that it is leakproof (bottles with ordinary caps have to be unscrewed with two fingers, as the small caps cannot be grasped otherwise and considerable force has to be applied to open such bottles); and

2) A hook 34 can be arranged on the elongated cap 30, which adds functionality to the container so that the bottle 20 can be hooked as a flask onto a belt or a rucksack (not shown). The cap 30 has an internal protrusion or flange 36 which serves to ensure tight closing of the bottle 20. The retainer 40 and the tube 10 can be quickly assembled and fixed to each other due to their design, as shown in FIG. 8, and the specially adapted form of the bottle 20 enables safe fixing of the tube 10 with retainer 40 inside the bottle 20.

The tube 10 and the retainer 40 are fixed to each other as shown in FIG. 8, and then are placed inside the bottle 20 through the opening in neck 22, so that when passing though said opening of said bottle 20, the retainer 40 contracts and enters the bottle 20, then releases and abuts against special protrusions 24 on the bottle 20. The tube 10 has a special corrugation arranged in such a way that when stretched it ensures a smooth bias of the tube, making very comfortable further use of said device.

This invention relates to a retainer 40 with a tube 10, said retainer and said tube accommodated inside a specially adapted bottle 20, and a cap 30 of special shape for closing said bottle 20, said tube 10 characterized in that it has a cut 2 shown in FIG. 5, an elastic corrugation facilitating said tube to extend lengthwise, said corrugation characterized in that it has creases 15 of different sizes, of one size on one side, and the same creases 18 on the opposite side having a little larger length, thereby ensuring the bias of the extended tube as shown in FIG. 2. Said corrugation is further characterized in that the elongated creases 18 thereof are provided only on the upper portion of the corrugation as shown in FIG. 8, thereby ensuring a bias of the upper portion of said tube rather than the whole tube as shown in FIG. 2.

The retainer 40 is characterized in that it is made flexible and elastic, said feature enabling: 1) the passage of said retainer 40 through the bottle neck 22; 2) when released said retainer 40 abuts with its stems 44 against a protrusion 24 located inside the bottle 20. Said retainer 40 is further characterized in that it has stems 44 as shown in FIG. 4, a cylindrical round bushing 42 as shown in FIG. 4, said bushing 42 facilitating a better fixing of said retainer 40 on the tube 10.

The bottle 20 as shown in FIG. 7, is characterized in that it has a protrusion 24 for holding the retainer and a funnel 26 for holding the tube 10 and the intake of the liquid into the tube 10.

The cap 40 as shown in FIG. 6, is characterized in that it has a free cavity in the upper portion thereof and a protrusion for leakproof closing of the bottle.

The retainer 40 has a special bias of the stems 44 (which is a feature distinguishing it from similar inventions). Required flexibility of the stems 44 is ensured by means of said feature so that the retainer 40 can pass through the neck opening when said retainer 40 is placed inside the bottle 20.

The corrugation 15 has a specially enlarged side 18 of the upper portion (a feature distinguishing it from other inventions). Required bias of the extended tube 10 is ensured and maintained by means of said feature.

The corrugation 15 has a specially elongated length, said feature providing required vertical elongation of the tube 10 when it is stretched and extracted from the bottle. The tube 10 can be elongated by 10 cm by means of the specially elongated corrugations 15, 18. Said specially adapted corrugation facilitates vertical elongation of the tube 10 (a feature distinguishing it from other inventions).

The cap 30 has a special cavity 32 (a feature distinguishing it from other inventions) for accommodating the tube 10 inside. Due to this feature, the tube 10 protrudes from the bottle 20 after the cap 30 is removed so that the tube 10 can be easily taken by the free end 14 for further extracting from the bottle. In similar inventions, the tube is located inside the drain hole when the cap is removed making it difficult to extract the tube from the container. 

1-4. (canceled)
 5. A container assembly comprising: a container comprising a body defining a chamber, said body having a neck defining an opening for communication with said chamber, and a cap removably securable to said neck for sealing said opening defined by said neck; a straw disposed in said chamber of said body, said straw having a top open end and a bottom open end, and at least one corrugated section between said top and bottom open ends which permits said straw to be extendable along its length, such that its top open end thereof may project out through said opening; and means for retaining said straw at least partially within said chamber of said body, said retaining means being flexible and being configured and dimensioned to permit said means for retaining and said straw to be inserted into said chamber of said container through said opening defined by said neck, and to permit said means for retaining to be fixedly retained within said chamber of said container.
 6. A container assembly according to claim 5, wherein said at least one corrugated section has creases on one side of said straw which are larger in length than the creases on the other side of said straw to thereby create a bias in the straw when it is extended.
 7. A container assembly according to claim 6, wherein said at least one corrugated section has an upper and lower portion and wherein said creases on one side of said straw which are larger in length are provided only in said upper portion of said corrugated section.
 8. A container assembly according to claim 5, wherein said means for retaining comprises a bushing by which it is attached to said straw and a plurality of resilient arms which extend radially out from said bushing and have free ends which abut said body.
 9. A container assembly according to claim 8, wherein said container body has means for fixing said free ends of said resilient arms and, in turn, said means for retaining in said container body.
 10. A container assembly according to claim 9, wherein said means for fixing comprises at least one protrusion in said container body.
 11. A container assembly according to claim 5, wherein said container has means for supporting the bottom open end of said straw to permit liquid to be drawn into said straw.
 12. A container assembly according to claim 11, wherein said means for supporting comprises a funnel-shaped portion of the body.
 13. A container assembly according to claim 11, wherein said bottom open end of said straw has a beveled cut end.
 14. A container assembly according to claim 5, wherein said cap has a generally inverted cup-shaped configuration and a radially inwardly directed flange which abuts the top of said neck which said cap is secured to said neck to ensure a tight seal.
 15. A container assembly according to claim 5, wherein said cap has a hook secured thereto.
 16. A container assembly according to claim 5, wherein said container is a bottle.
 17. A straw assembly for a container of the type which comprises a body defining a chamber, said body having a neck defining an opening for communication with said chamber, and a cap removably securable to said neck for sealing said opening defined by said neck, said straw assembly comprising: a straw disposable in the chamber of the body, said straw having a top open end and a bottom open end, and at least one corrugated section between said top and bottom open ends which permits said straw to be extendable along its length, such that its top open end thereof may project out through the container opening; and means for retaining said straw at least partially within said chamber of said body, said retaining means being flexible and being configured and dimensioned to permit said means for retaining and said straw to be inserted into said chamber of said container through said opening defined by the neck, and to permit said means for retaining to be fixedly retained within the chamber of the container.
 18. A straw assembly according to claim 17, wherein said at least one corrugated section has creases on one side of said straw which are larger in length than the creases on the other side of said straw to thereby create a bias in the straw when it is extended.
 19. A straw assembly according to claim 18, wherein said at least one corrugated section has an upper and lower portion and wherein said creases on one side of said straw which are larger in length are provided only in said upper portion of said corrugated section.
 20. A straw assembly according to claim 17, wherein said means for retaining comprises a bushing by which it is attached to said straw and a plurality of resilient arms which extend radially out from said bushing and have free ends which abut said body.
 21. A straw assembly according to claim 17, wherein said bottom open end of said straw has a beveled cut end. 